November-December 2012

SoCal 8s
Newsletter
November – December 2012
Issue No. 8
SoCal Euro
Meet
At Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA
Schnuerer Car Barn
Huntington Beach, CA
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Inside This Month’s Issue
Artwork and Articles Created
By: Fern Mora
Other Photo contributors: Yu
Namba, Brendan Pena, Bob Allen,
Thierry Thomasson, 8er
International, BMW Club e31 8er
France, Schnuerer Car Barn site
November - December Articles:
• Cars And Girls..………...........………………….………..Page 4
• Publishers Note………………..........................................Page 3
• SoCal Euro Meet…….….………......................................Page 5
• Schnuerer Toys for Tots…………..…………..…….……Page 10
• International 8er Meeting...................................................Page 17
• BMW Club e31 8er France………..…………………..…Page 19
• New Items Available……………………………………..Page 20
• BMW M1 Successor the M8………………………...…...Page 21
• A Holiday Message..……………….…………………….Page 22
SoCal Upcoming Issue:
December “Car of the Month”
Publishers Note
November-December
In this issue I have decided to combine the months of
November with December. SoCal 8s had only one event
and little of any other new news to share. However there is
enough news in this issue that I feel you will find
interesting.
We have had a lot of fun these past 2 months and have also met new 8 owners. Our
group is expanding and will continue to grow as we get more exposure. Our web
site is now active and continuing to be updated as events come up.
I have also been mailing out SoCal 8 items to 21 states in the US and 12 countries
around the world which helps expand our notoriety.
Here is the list:
21 United States:
Maryland
California
Texas
New Jersey
Connecticut
Florida
Virginia
Ohio
Georgia
Kansas
Philadelphia Main
North Carolina
Washington
Mississippi
Wisconsin
Washington
Colorado
Massachusetts
Nevada
Iowa
12 International Countries:
Germany
Croatia
Sweden
France
England
Canada
Saudi Arabia
Austria
Norway
British Columbia
Russia
Switzerland
Cars and Girls:
Two of the best
things on earth
Custom car culture has been part of southern California society since the mid
forties. Back when kids use to take their cars and girls out and compete against
each other on backcountry roads or a good industrial area street to race. Friday
nights were spent at the local cruise spot, hot cars filled the parking lots of Ruby’s,
Bob’s Big Boys, and A&W Drive-in’s and with it the girls that appreciated them.
Car culture of today isn’t quiet how things were back then, but a lot still is the same
when is comes to the Southern California car scene. Hot cars fill up the shows and
late night cruise spots, and the girls that drive us to do what we do best are there.
Guys build cars to attract hot girls, and girls are attracted to the hot cars that guys
build. It’s a circle that will never end, be it a mid '60s muscle car, a slammed out
low-rider, a hot JDM import, or a European DTM tricked out street cruiser, you can
be sure that the girls will be there. Cars and girls go together like peanut butter
and jelly.
In the past 10 years of the import car scene, the European models have taken over.
No longer are the Honda’s and Toyota’s dominating. Good evidence is in the
attendance that can be found at shows and meets around the Southern California
area like Bimmerfest West, SoCal Euro, and many Car and Coffee meets each
weekend. Euro car owners take great pride in their car and even more pride if a
girl is riding shotgun.
840Ci Wide Body
and
330Ci Supercharged
4
SoCal 8s Roll
in to The SoCal
Euro Meet
November 17th
Three of us braved the drizzly morning and gathered at the Irvine Spectrum to
meet before rolling down to San Diego, all the time wishing it would stop. As it
turned out, we had mother nature on our side and the route to the Qualcomm
stadium was sunny. Along the way Taylor Patterson joined our caravan and John
Burgan was already waiting near the stadium for us to arrive.
We were not an overpowering group to put it mildly. We were greatly out
numbered by most models, but still had a well represented mix.
In attendance were Taylor’s 95 and Gary’s 94 CSi, John’s 94 840Ci with the
beautiful Avus color which was converted to a 6 speed, Roy’s 95 Black 840Ci,
and my 95 840Ci fully customized wide body. Later in the day, a newcomer Jon
appeared and lined up with us. In total we had 6 strong Eights.
5
Pass & Review The
Mighty Six
SoCal 8s In Attendance
John B.
Gary C.
Fern M.
Roy A.
Jon a Newbie.
Taylor P.
5
Euro’s
In
Attendance
Sponsored By
Over the years this event
has grown in attendance.
This year the organizers had
over 1,500 registered for
this free event. It rivals the
West Coast Bimmerfest in
attendance.
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More Euro’s in
Attendance
8
Sorry Officers!
9
Schnuerer
Car Barn
Mercedes-Benz, WWII
Era Vehicles, and BMW
Exhibit
December 2, 2012
Special Invitation for SoCal 8ers,
Gerhard Schnuerer
We were invited to attend The Gerhard and Rosemarie Schnuerer 9th Annual
Charity “Marine Corps Toys for Tots” Fundraiser and Antique Vehicle Show in
Huntington Beach. This was a great opportunity to be part of a great charitable
function.
The Mercedes car collection is one of the best in the country and is not open to
the public. Viewing is by special invitation only. Donation for this event was one
$20.00 toy or a $20.00 cash donation per person.
They served free homemade German food Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Sauerkraut,
Erbsensuppe (split pea soup). 100% of the proceeds went to “Toys for Tots”.
All expenses were paid by Gerhard and Rosemarie Schnuerer and some
generous donors. This was a family affair so some of us brought our significant
partners. They also had Live Music from two bands and Car Rides.
The organizers set up a special parking area for our members. In review were
many antique Mercedes-Benz and military vehicles seldom viewed by the public.
This was the last event of the year before the holidays consume our time.
Twelve of us made the event and had a great time just before it started to
sprinkle.
10
12 Eights On
Display
Why do we spend all of our time
at shows just looking into our
engine bays?
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Some Shots
from Santa’s
Sleigh
It’s For the Kids
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Priceless Time
Machines
1897 Benz Mylord Coupé Horseless
Carriage, one of the oldest, original,
running motor vehicles in the United
States!
1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen
1911 Benz 50 HP Open Tourer
1922 Packard Single-Six Runabout
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Archive Film Picture
GERMAN
MILITARY
VEHICLES
1943 VW Kübelwagen
1945 NSU Un-restored "Kettenkrad"
WWII Small Tractor
1943 BMW R75 Military
Motorcycle with Sidecar
1940
1944 VW Schwimmwagen
Amphibious
VW Logo
Exactly 15,125 VW Type 166’s, better known
as Schwimmwagens were manufactured
during World War II. At the conclusion of the
war, all the vehicles that could be found were
crushed or used for target practice by the
Allied Forces
Gulaschkanone (WW II -Style
Military Field Kitchen)
Served about 500 cups of split pea soup,
and 200 cups of sauerkraut
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1966 Unimog Car Hauler
Classics
from the
Past
Nice Line up
1918 Opel Dual Cowl Phaeton
1936 Mercedes-Benz
230 / W143 Cabriolet
1938
Mercedes-Benz
230S / W153
Special
Roadster
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1938 BMW R35 Motorcycle
1936 Adler Junior Trumpf Coupé
Gerhard Schnuerer
Rosemarie and I want to
thank the more than
500 Guests who
attended our 9th Annual
Charity Fundraiser
and Antique Vehicle Show for making
the December 2nd event another
success. In spite of a not exactly
favorable weather forecast, the rain
stayed away until early afternoon,
enabling you to enjoy the festivities.
Thanks to you, we collected over 500
toys and more than $8,000 in cash,
which will be forwarded to the Marine
Toys for Tots Foundation.
We also want to thank Dave Kunz and
Art Gould for acting as MCs, our two
bands, the “MonkeyBone” and the
“Vision”, for entertaining us pro bono,
the Marines for spending their Sunday
with us instead of their families, and
Santa Claus for taking time out of his
busy schedule to drop in.
Gerhard Schnuerer
The Stage was the 1966 Unimog Car
Hauler
16
International
8 Meetings
Our International fellow 8 owners
meet in Europe throughout the
year. Sometimes in a small group
and other times quite large.
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8 Owners
Meetings
Pictures taken at
one of their past
meetings with
over 100 Eights
in attendance
BMW Art Car will
be displayed at
Stavanger Art
Museum
International Conference
Art Car
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France Our Fellow
8 Owners
Track day in October.
Boy do we wish we
had a chance to use
this track. We could
put 20-30 8s on the
track.
Day at the track
Our fellow 8 owners
across the great pond
enjoy their 8s with the
same passion as we
have here in the US.
Great passion of
driving a beautiful car in
the beautiful French
countryside.
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New Items now
Available
The BMW Book
SOCAL 8 Members,
304 pp., hardcover
319 color and 45 b/w
photographs
Text in English, German,
and Chinese
From now till Jan 31st 2013,
Special Employee Pricing on all in
stock Factory BMW accessories.
This is a great deal, from Bikes,
roof racks, clothing , wheel sets ,
toys for Christmas, they do not
want to pass this up! This is only
through Long Beach BMW , and
please this does not include hard
parts , oil, M oil coolant etc.
Accessories only, and shipping is
not included.
They can contact me at
[email protected]
or call me 562 427-5494 , but they
need to ask for Gator.
USD 125.00
excl. Shipping costs
Item No.:79616I
SBN:978-3-8327-9616-7
Format:11 1/2 x 14 1/2
in.
Available at:
http://www.teneues.com/
Sample
#001
Many of our 8 owners have ordered and
received these specially created key rings.
They have been mailed out to seven
International countries and nine states in the
US.
They can be engraved on the bottom with
your 7-digit VIN number, your name, or
model of your 8 up to 7 digits. They can be
ordered from me. If you are interested
email me at:
[email protected]
The cost is $105.00 for mailing in the US and $110.00 USD for International mailing.
BMW M1 Successor Will
8
Be Called The
BMW bosses have fervently denied that a
successor to the M1 is in the works, yet that
hasn’t stopped reports of a new sports car
being developed by BMW M from surfacing
every now and then.
The last we heard, the new M division sports
car would be launched in 2016, two years after
the i8, and it would come with a bespoke
platform and turbocharged V-8 engine
delivering more than 600 horsepower.
A new report published by Automobile
Magazine indicates the car is still on track for a
2016 launch, and it will go by the name M8
(the M1 name is apparently too sacred). A
bespoke platform looks to be out of the
question. However, the i8’s lightweight
aluminum and carbon fiber chassis will likely
get the nod. Thankfully, the i8’s three-cylinder
engine and plug-in hybrid system won’t be
kept, as BMW M engineers are said to be
favoring a V-8 option.
A Holiday
Message
I would like to wish all my fellow 8 owners and their families all over the world the best Holiday
Season and a very exciting New Year. SoCal 8s will be planning at least six events for the
coming year, starting with our Wrenchfest in February and ending with Toys for Tots in
December. Between that time, the 10th Anniversary 8-Fest meet will be in October.
The SoCal 8s Board is determined to keep the enthusiasm and momentum that we began this year.
We have made great strives to put us in the forefront on the 8 community and are determined to
continue.
All of this could not be possible without your support and dedication. Currently we have 86 on
our mailing list. If only 20% attend meets or events, it promises to be successful and rewarding
2013.
2013
With the launch of our website www.socaleights.com in September, we will surly build our
membership.
The events we attended this year;
Cars and Coffee Meet, Irvine
Wrenchfest, Signal Hill
Impromptu Meet, Dana Point
Bimmerfest, Pasadena
Cars & Cockpits, Santa Ana
1st SoCal 8s Wine Tour, Temecula
Wrenchfest, Mission Viejo
Legions of the Autobahn, Carmel Valley
Karl Strauss Brunch, Sorrento Valley
3rd Annual Central Coast Wine Tour, Paso Robles
Schnuerer Barn Toys for Tots, Huntington Beach
Our New Sponsors
Long Beach BMW, LB CA
Crevier BMW, Santa Anna CA
Savage BMW, Ontario, CA
South Bay BMW, Torrance, CA
BMW Factory Direct, Torrance, CA
Its been a great year. Most owners across the country wish they had an opportunity to attend these
events.
My Best Wishes to you all, Fern
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